MISSILE MEN NEED WORK

21 Apr 2005

What's with General Lance Lord looking for "alternative uses" for Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles? Has "the demise of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War have actually increased the importance of our Minuteman III ICBM," as he says? Or is the general just looking for something to keep his 9,000 misileers busy? The answer from Slate's Fred Kaplan: # 2.THERE'S MORE: While Gen. Lord tries to keep his current crop of missile men engaged, the Pentagon is developing a next generation of hypersonic, intercontinental missiles. Here's what I wrote about project Falcon ("Force Application and Launch from the CONtinental United States") back in '03.